This invention relates generally to pickups for agricultural machines and, in particular, to an arrangement for mounting pickup tine guards.
Pickups used on agricultural machines such as balers and forage harvesters typically include a reel which is rotatable about a horizontal axis. The reel has a plurality of tines mounted on bars for movement in a generally circular path to lift crop material from the ground. The tine bars are connected to a central shaft by end plates, and as the reel rotates, the tines project through spaces or gaps formed between tine guards arranged side-by-side transversely of the reel. These tine guards are individually secured by bolts at their top and bottom ends to support members on the pickup. U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,527 granted Aug. 20, 1968 to O. W. Luek et al. discloses a conventional mounting arrangement for tine guards wherein each guard is secured by four bolts or rivets at its top and bottom ends.
When service work on a pickup is necessary, one or more tine guards are removed in order to gain access to the reel. This is a time consuming job on conventional pickups because, in most situations, several (i.e. five to ten) tine guards must be removed to provide enough space to perform the service work. For example, if seven tine guards are removed from the pickup shown in the above-mentioned Luek et al. patent, the removal of twenty-eight bolts or rivets is also required.